Sowing season for politicians in Madhya Pradesh

There are lakhs and lakhs of SC/ST families who have been living and farming on forest land for decades. They have to suffer constant harassment by police and forest officials and dole out regular “protection” money to them. These police and forest officials have, in turn, protection of local influential politicians. The vicious cycle thus continues and no politician in power really wants to regularise theencroachments.

The BJP had, in its manifesto for the 1990 Assembly elections, categorically promised that the SC/ST families who had occupied the forest land before 1980 would be given pattas (ownership rights), with the permission of the Central Government, within a fixed time frame.

The BJP ruled the state for 33 months but did not take any concrete step to fulfill its election promise to the hapless SC/ST families. Now, at the fag-end of the five-year term of the Congress Government, Digvijay’s forest minister has once again come out with the promise of regularising the pre-1980 encroachments on forest land.